Department for Business and Trade

Accounting: Standards

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted: To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to investment in the UK stock market by pension funds, what assessment they have made of whether the use of Financial Reporting Standard 17 and International Accounting Standard 19 complies with regulation 7(1) of the International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/685), which requires that use of a standard be conducive to the long-term public good of the UK, and the Endorsement Board assessment that this requirement should include the consideration of any adverse affect on the UK economy.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Financial Reporting Standard 17 Retirement Benefits was superseded by Financial Reporting Standard 102 from 1 January 2015 onwards. As Financial Reporting Standard 102 is a UK standard, and not an international accounting standard, it is not subject to the assessment criteria set out in SI 2019/685.In 2003, the EU formally adopted International Accounting Standard 19. The standard, and subsequent amendments were assessed against similar criteria to those in SI 2019/685, now used by the UK Endorsement Board.No retrospective assessment of International Accounting Standard 19 was required, or was conducted, for the UK’s onshoring of EU adopted international accounting standards following the UK’s exit from the EU.

Department of Health and Social Care

Medical Equipment: Cotton

Lord Rooker: To ask His Majesty's Government whether any checks have been made by the Department of Health and Social Care regarding products it uses which contain cotton about where the cotton was grown.

Lord Markham: NHS Supply Chain, which supplies the majority of medical goods, products and consumables for the National Health Service, has had a Supplier Code of Conduct, based on the principles of the UN Global Compact, in place since 2009. Under the Code all suppliers, including suppliers of cotton products, are expected to adhere to these principles, which address issues including child labour, forced labour, wages, working hours and health and safety. NHS Supply Chain suppliers must undertake a Modern Slavery Assessment on the United Kingdom Government’s Supplier Portal.Section 47 of the Health and Social Care Act 2022 introduced a statutory duty for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to undertake a review into the risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place in NHS supply chains, specifically focusing on cotton-based products, and to lay a report before Parliament on its outcomes within 18 months. The Review is being undertaken by NHS Supply Chain, with oversight from NHS England.

Department for Transport

Public Transport: Disability

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking tomake public transport more accessible for disabled children who require it to attend school.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government is clear that disabled students should be able to travel to school easily, confidently and without additional cost. The Department is taking steps to improve accessibility across public transport, particularly for buses and coaches, which will benefit families including those with disabled children, across the country. In March, we laid the Accessible Information Regulations (AIR) in Parliament. Subject to Parliamentary approval, these new rules will require buses and coaches used on local services to provide audible and visible announcements. This will represent a significant step forward in the accessibility of these local services. While these new rules may not capture all home-to-school services, the Department also plans to undertake a Call for Evidence on the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR), the rules that transport providers must follow to make sure that vehicles are accessible, including many buses and coaches used for home-to-school services. This Call for Evidence is part of a wider review of the PSVAR and will allow disabled people and their families to tell the Department how well these regulations have worked, and what steps may need to be taken to improve accessibility for disabled passengers in the future. These steps to make transport more accessible sit alongside existing local authority Special Educational and Disability (SEND) duties to provide free home-to-school transport for eligible students.

Dual Carriageways and Motorways: Accidents

Lord Robathan: To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) fatalities, and (2) casualties, occurred per 1,000 miles travelled on (a) smart motorways, (b) traditional motorways, and (c) dual carriageways, in the past five years.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: National Highways measures safety performance using key metrics, including, Killed and Serious Injuries (KSI) and Fatal and Weighted Injuries (FWI)) which look at absolute values and rates accounting for traffic flows, as endorsed by the Office of Rail and Road. The latest safety data is available in the Smart motorway stocktake second year progress report published in May 2022 (covering the period 2016-2020). This data shows that, overall, in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are our safest roads. Table I: 5-year average (2016-2020) injury adjusted metrics per Hundred Million Vehicle Miles (HMVM) for all collisions. Type of motorway/ roadKSI (per HMVM)FWI (per HMVM)Conventional1.450.37ALR1.380.33DHS1.170.32Controlled1.300.32A-roads (on SRN)3.660.91

Shipping: Isles of Scilly

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Council of the Isles of Scilly published on 14 April 2023 that the Department for Transport will take the lead on the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project, whether this is the same project for which the Council of the Isles of Scilly submitted a Levelling Up Fund bid for £48.4 million in June 2021.

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Council of the Isles of Scilly published on 14 April 2023 that the Department for Transport will take the lead on the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project, whether they intend to take this project forward in accordance with their correspondence with the Council requiring compliance with public procurement regulations and the need for competition in procuring new vessels and operation of the new services.

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Council of the Isles of Scilly published on 14 April 2023 that the Department for Transport will take the lead on the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project, what discussions they have had with the Council regarding publication of the results of the current survey on islanders’ preferences for value for money, fares and freight costs, and a year-round passenger ferry service rather than a summer-only service.

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Council of the Isles of Scilly published on 14 April 2023 that the Department for Transport will take the lead on the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project, whether the position taken in the letter from Baroness Vere of Norbiton to the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company on 17 March 2023 rejecting its proposal to receive public funds without the need for competition for procurement of the vessels and delivery of services still stands.

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Council of the Isles of Scilly published on 14 April 2023 that the Department for Transport will take the lead on the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project, whether they will consider the environmental and economic benefits of a single combined passenger and freight vessel operating all year round, rather than continuing the current operating model involving separate freight and passenger vessels, with no passenger service for five months of each year.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: I can confirm that this is the same project for which the Isles of Scilly submitted a Levelling Up Fund bid for £48.4 million in June 2021. DfT recognises the potential benefits of a hybrid vessel, which can accommodate both passengers and freights. These benefits will be considered to determine if a more frequent and efficient service can operate, and potentially be extended to run over the winter months. I wrote to the current operator advising that the proposal received from Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, which sought to use public (levelling up) funding without the need of competition, did not meet the public procurement requirement in the context of the Levelling Up Fund. This position remains. The Council of the Isles of Scilly are leading on the current survey to seek the islander’s preferences for value for money, fares and freight costs, and a year-round passenger service as opposed to a summer only service. DfT and the council have agreed that the results of this survey will be shared with the public once available. The DfT have advised the Council of the Isles of Scilly that it will take the lead on finalising the ownership and delivery option for the Isles of Scilly Sea Links Project. The Council of the Isles of Scilly will remain the accountable body and will be required to submit any subsequent business case. As a levelling up funding project, the intention of DfT is that that project remains compliant with public procurement regulations. It also acknowledges the need for competition when procuring new vessels and operation of services.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Nutrition

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all consumers have access to a balanced, healthy and affordable diet given the increases in the price of fruit and vegetables.

Lord Benyon: The Government Food Strategy sets out a plan to transform our food system to ensure it is fit for the future. We want to see a sustainable food system, from farm to fork and catch to plate, seizing on the opportunities before us, levelling up every part of the country and ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious and healthier food. A healthy diet is a key component of good health and the Government advises people to follow the Eatwell Guide. Encouraging more people to follow the Eatwell Guide will have a substantial benefit on health as well as the environment. To protect the most vulnerable from the worst of cost-of-living pressures, the Chancellor recently announced a package of targeted support worth £26 billion, which includes continued support for rising energy bills. For 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. More than 8 million families on means-tested benefits received a payment of up to £650 in 2022, made in two lump sums. This includes all families entitled to a payment of: Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Pension Credit.

Food: Prices

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the rise in the price of basic foodstuffs reported in the Which? monthly food inflation tracker.

Lord Benyon: Food price inflation is being driven by a combination of inflationary factors across the food chain – these include increased farmgate prices influenced by global commodity prices and farm input costs such as fertilisers and animal feed. For manufacturers production costs have increased because of a combination of factors including a tight labour market increasing wages, energy price increases, fuel and packaging materials.